It hasn't been tradesman or even press only for years. And they know it. The game companies flat out cater to it, as does some of the media.

That's the big problem, IMHO. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry can get into the show WAY too easily. It's also way too damn loud. I mean, why are the devs fighting for attention at a trade show that's supposed to only have Press and Media in it?

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"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

That's the big problem, IMHO. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry can get into the show WAY too easily. It's also way too damn loud. I mean, why are the devs fighting for attention at a trade show that's supposed to only have Press and Media in it?

Actually, it's supposed to be a show for corporate buyers, although they begrudgingly tolerate press and media too.

They've been saying this for years. Its bunk. Moreso since the E3 website says "Join us for 2007".

Too bad EA, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are pulling support. They can still have a show, it just won't be a mega-show that gets a couple of hours of TV on G4. Things may still get announced then, but all the articles point to the days of Huge Booths etc are gone.

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"I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind amazing things will happen." - Conan O'Brien

I just want it to fulfil the original purpose - tell me what is coming up (give me a digital list please with fact sheets, kthanks!) and let me meet face to face with my reps and arrange support, business deals, partnerships, advertising, etc. The actual BUSINESS side of things. Hell, I'll concede the whole show floor for what MS had set up - you go into a small room with the dev, they show you the stuff (thank you MS for having a table for my laptop!) they want to show off, and then you leave for your next appointment. I don't need the flash and noise.

2. Four People Said 'Enough'When I spoke to some people about E3's collapse, the general response was one of disbelief. How could something so big fall apart so quickly? Perhaps this is why so many news outlets simply refused to believe the news. The fact is that all it took were a very small number of company presidents to talk with each other, and figure out that if they all decided to pass, none of them would need to be there. Once Nintendo, Microsoft, SCEA and EA had stepped out, E3 was history. It was multilateral disarmament.

What that meant though was that they were the reason why the E3 as we know it ended. It doesn't mean that they'll be in the 'new' E3 or not.

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"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

I just want it to fulfil the original purpose - tell me what is coming up (give me a digital list please with fact sheets, kthanks!) and let me meet face to face with my reps and arrange support, business deals, partnerships, advertising, etc. The actual BUSINESS side of things. Hell, I'll concede the whole show floor for what MS had set up - you go into a small room with the dev, they show you the stuff (thank you MS for having a table for my laptop!) they want to show off, and then you leave for your next appointment. I don't need the flash and noise.

That would be great. However, there seems like there could be problems. I'd like to think that Gaming Trend would make the cut to the new, invitation only event. I'm pretty sure I no longer qualify, but since haven't gone to the last two that I have been eligible for, that's not much of a loss. Though what could you do if you didn't make the cut? It seems like a rich get richer kind of thing.

Even if I were invited, I couldn't afford to go to the new E3, an EA game event, THQ's Gamathon, Sony's Playstation World, Nintendo's Game Retreat, Microsoft's Halo Festival and all the others. Again probably the major sites would get some transportation to the event, but everyone else would be stuck in the self serve.

Speaking of self serving, it might not be long until invitations are tied to how well 'shaped' impressions provided by publishers are reflected in your coverage. Will your stance against Starforce cross you off some lists? Of course, they wouldn't tell you that's why.

Who knows? I certainly didn't expect the whole industry to celebrate the demise of E3. Yet it seems to be happening.

That would be great. However, there seems like there could be problems. I'd like to think that Gaming Trend would make the cut to the new, invitation only event. I'm pretty sure I no longer qualify, but since haven't gone to the last two that I have been eligible for, that's not much of a loss. Though what could you do if you didn't make the cut? It seems like a rich get richer kind of thing.

Yea, we should be able to get in. The guys usually have no trouble with registration - I'm the one that gets stuck calling in and saying "No really, they work for me..."

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Even if I were invited, I couldn't afford to go to the new E3, an EA game event, THQ's Gamathon, Sony's Playstation World, Nintendo's Game Retreat, Microsoft's Halo Festival and all the others. Again probably the major sites would get some transportation to the event, but everyone else would be stuck in the self serve.

The thing that came to mind for me is that I like everything compacted into a week. I can take that week off entirely. I can't take 2 days off for every individual event...

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Speaking of self serving, it might not be long until invitations are tied to how well 'shaped' impressions provided by publishers are reflected in your coverage. Will your stance against Starforce cross you off some lists? Of course, they wouldn't tell you that's why.

I'll give every publisher/developer fair coverage, but I will not compromise the integrity of this site to go to those events. This site is first, and most importantly, a review, news, information, and discussion place. If I don't get into CDV's events to cover their war games, well...then I'll have to wait for the boxed copies or review copies to review em up. If we miss those, it is really their loss. A good example - for whatever reason we've not had any luck getting Nintendo or Capcom to give us any love. We've not seen anyone leave over it though...

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Who knows? I certainly didn't expect the whole industry to celebrate the demise of E3. Yet it seems to be happening.

I won't celebrate its demise, but I'd be happy to see it restructured. Private booth appointments like I got with Microsoft and some other companies is the way to go.

Personally, I like the idea of things more spread out over the year instead of compacted into a single week. Granted, I completely understand the appeal of that week because, as Ron noted, you get everything at once in one place and can paln your schedule accordingly. That being said I think we all agree that as gamers we both love and hate the Fourth Quarter every year because everything gets dropped on us all at once and we wind up missing more than half of it. Same thing with E3. Everything gets dropped on us all at once and we both love and hate that.

If the industry would drop games and information on us more throughout the year instead of in giant bursts here and there then there would honestly be more profit and coverage to go around I think. I'd prefer a few AAA games hit in June, some in August, and a few more in October rather than all of those hitting between November 1 and December 12. From a retail point of view I get where they're coming from but here's the caveat: If people have the money, they will spend it regardless of what time of the year it is.

Same thing regarding information. If Microsoft has a Halo tournament in February and (blows smoke up my ass) reveals some details about Halo 3 then cool. Likewise Sony setting up their own event to show off the PS3, God of War II, et al. Their respective marketing costs drop precipitously because they're not paying the insane costs of showing in the LA convention center.

This sucks for me being on the retail front. I haven't read whether retail management will be allowed into the show or not, but I'm not paying for the trip for this new "evolved" E3. Fuck that, seriously. I liked the noise, the lights, the babes, and of course the games. I don't see why they couldn't just tone it down a bit in terms of booth setup, I mean I can see why some companies would complain when the booth next to them has a stage with a live musical performance going on. E3 to me has always been about excitement, but now its not there. There's no single event to be excited about any longer, now E3 will come and go and I don't think people will care as much anymore. Its just another trade event.